Calories Burned Walking on Treadmill...seems like a lot

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Stewie316
Stewie316 Posts: 266 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I normally do the majority of my cardio on my ellipitcal and during an hour session on low-medium intensity and according to my HRM I burn about 390-440 calories. Now, I just got a treadmill last week for a little bit of change and during an hour on 10% incline @ 3mph I burn about 460 calories. I also move my arms back and forth for the whole hour to keep my hr up. Now I'm really confused because this seems really high for just fast walking and the treadmill is a lot easier than the elliptical. Do these calories seem right? If anyone can tell me how many calories you normally burn walking it would be really appreciated. I'm a 125 pounds and have a Polar F55.

Thanks in advance :)

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  • jlcanon
    jlcanon Posts: 21
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    The higher the incline on the treadmill the more calories you burn. A 10% incline is a moderate height for a high calorie burn. If your HRM is correct and your weight is entered into it correctly I would go by that. Your heart rate is the best judge of how intense your workout is. The worst thing you can do is to go by what a treadmill or elliptical machine tells you. Your heart rate is the best evidence that you burned the calories.
  • katchimney
    katchimney Posts: 1 Member
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    Wow! You are a force to be reckoned with...:smile:
  • jerjan
    jerjan Posts: 33 Member
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    Yes @ an Incline you burn more calories, I read it in Self magazine this month and it says it's a "Calorie Torcher" LOL!!. I've been doing incline walks this week as-well and I burn more calories that my mile jog. :wink:
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
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    Go by the HRM.
    The elliptical is what you were used to, and the treadmill is new, so therefore harder/different for your body right now. It may even out in time as your heart gets used to the different form of exercise, or it may stay that high due to the incline.
  • Stewie316
    Stewie316 Posts: 266 Member
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    Thanks, it's just so hard to believe that an incline makes that much of a difference.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    Thanks, it's just so hard to believe that an incline makes that much of a difference.

    The incline makes a considerable amount of difference--but only if you don't hold on to the handrails (which according to your post you are not doing).

    Per the ACSM metabolic calculations, I came up with about 420 cals/hr, based on your weight.

    It breaks down like this: 13.5% of energy expended (EE) is resting metabolism; 31% of EE is from the horizontal walking component and 55.5% of EE comes from the vertical component.

    That's for a 10% at 3.0 mph only--the ratio will change if speed or elevation change, but it does point out how significant the incline portion is to a walking workout.

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